


Promise

by TheArchiveGhost



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Game Retelling, Minor Timeline Rearrangement, PG-Rated Sexytime, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7325692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArchiveGhost/pseuds/TheArchiveGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were hundreds of people Hanna would die for - she would gladly give her life in defense of the people she had sworn to protect - but there was one person, one stubborn, golden-haired former Templar, whom she would live for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a longer DA:I fic. There'll be some minor game retelling, from some of the Cullen/Inquisitor romance scenes, as well as some timeline rearranging to get things to be where I need them to. There are five chapters total, and new ones will be published every Sunday. Like it if you like it if you like!

Hanna didn’t often have cause to feel delicate. Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor - these were titles that required a ramrod spine and a will of steel. Everything about her was honed for battle - mentally and physically - and she often felt there was nothing of her left that was soft. She could hardly  _ afford _ to be soft, to show any kind of weakness, to let any of the cracks in her carefully cultivated armor show on the surface. And so she stayed hard, she kept herself separate and aloof, and she remained the figurehead that the people needed - perhaps by now even  _ she _ needed it.

She had still yet to grow accustomed to people leaping out of her way, soldiers saluting and commoners bowing as she passed through the halls and grounds of Skyhold. She cherished the moments she could let her armor go ever so slightly, when she was with the ragtag group of people whom she had begun to think of as her friends. 

At the moment, however, she was standing rigidly at attention, arms behind her back, listening intently as Josephine gave her the latest report from the Exalted Plains. The Dalish were reaching out to the Inquisition for the first time, at the insistence of a young elf Hanna and her party had encountered on an earlier mission, and Solas had offered to liaise with them himself. 

‘I’m reluctant to let Solas travel out alone,’ Josephine concluded, looking up from the board that was always in her hands. ‘With the instability of the Exalted Plains and the influx of Venatori in the area, it is best to send a complete party.’

‘I believe that if anyone can travel without interference, it would be Solas,’ Hanna observed. ‘He can be almost invisible if he wishes.’ Commander Cullen nodded his agreement.

‘And I don’t believe we could really stop him if he chooses to go,’ Leliana pointed out. ‘He is, after all, a free agent, and is only truly here for his interest in the magic of the Anchor.’

‘All right, then,’ Hanna decided. ‘I’ll let Solas know that he can travel to the Dalish camp if he wishes. Was there anything else, Josephine?’

‘That should be all,’ Josephine responded, lowering her board. ‘At least for now. We are still waiting on news for our next move against Corypheus - I will update you as soon as I know something useful.’ Leliana, Commander Cullen, and Hanna nodded and Hanna turned on her heel and left the war room, eager to escape to her private chambers.

‘Inquisitor!’ She groaned inwardly as Commander Cullen’s voice followed her through the heavy oak doors, but turned nonetheless, smiling politely at her Commander. ‘Do you have some time?’ 

‘Certainly, Commander Cullen.’ He gestured for her to follow him, and he led her through the Great Hall and out onto the battlements, towards his office, chatting amiably along the way. He let them both in, and gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. She took the offered seat, while he sat in the high-backed one on the other side.

‘There’s something I need to tell you,’ he confessed once they were both sitting at his desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a red wooden box about the size of a book, turning it around and gesturing for Hanna to open it. She obliged; she didn’t recognize most of the items contained in the box, but carved on the underside of the lid was the figure of Andraste.

‘What is this?’ she asked after examining the contents for a moment.

‘This is my lyrium kit,’ he responded. Hanna looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. She knew, of course, that Templars took lyrium, but she had never seen the paraphernalia for herself. ‘I’m not using it anymore.’ Her eyes widened in shock.

‘You’re not taking lyrium? But that could kill you!’ Hanna had heard stories - hearsay, really, through friends of friends of friends at the Circle - of Templars who had gone off lyrium. Most of the stories ended with the Templar going insane - or worse. ‘Why would you stop taking this?’

‘I need to be in full control. I need my mind to be my own, and I feel like I can’t do that if I’m depending on this substance. I’m aware of the risks,’ he said when she opened her mouth to protest, ‘but I feel like this will be worth it. I’ve asked Cassandra to keep an eye on me.’ He closed the box and slid it back into his desk drawer. ‘Should my abilities to lead our troops become compromised, I’ve given her orders that she should take over as Commander.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’ Hanna demanded.

‘I didn’t wish to worry you, Inquisitor.’ He smiled ever so slightly. ‘You have enough on your plate without saddling you with my problems, as well.’

‘Your problems  _ are  _ my problems, Commander,’ she told him sternly. ‘It’s my duty to protect my men, and you are one of my men. I can’t protect you if you don’t keep me informed.’ His smile widened infinitesimally. 

‘I promise, I will keep you abreast of the situation from now on.’ He hesitated slightly then. ‘Do you think I’m making the right choice, Inquisitor?’

‘I respect your decision, Commander. I’ll support you, whatever you decide.’

‘Thank you.’ He sounded monumentally relieved. ‘Might I ask you a question before you go?’ His tone was serious again, and Hanna agreed warily. ‘What was it like?’ he asked. ‘Going through the Fade, I mean.’ Hanna was quiet for several long moments, looking down at her hands fidgeting in her lap rather than up at him.

‘You must have read my report,’ she finally responded slowly. ‘I made sure Leliana showed it to you.’

‘Yes, I read it.’ His voice was quieter now, and he sat back in his chair. Hanna could feel his eyes on her but she didn’t look up. ‘But I was just...you saw the Divine. And you saw things that no one has seen for over a thousand years. And you had seen it before.’

‘Yes,’ Hanna replied quietly, leaning back and rubbing her face with one hand. Even this small gesture was a break in her Inquisitor armor, and Commander Cullen was taken aback at this display. ‘I was there before, at the Temple. I didn’t remember until...until the Divine or...or whatever that was...until she showed me how to get my memories back. It is not something I would wish to go through again.’ She took a deep breath, carefully composing her facial features before lowering her hand and facing her Commander again. ‘It was like walking through a nightmare. Everything was impossible, but it was all right there. I could hear everything, but I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. I could see everything, all the demons and the nightmares. I could even  _ taste _ it. But everything felt wrong. It was too real. It was too present, but none of it should have been possible. Even the Divine….’ She trailed off with a sigh. ‘I’m still not entirely certain if the Divine was really there or not.’ She held Cullen’s gaze firmly. ‘I wouldn’t wish the Fade on anyone.’

He nodded. ‘Thank you for sharing, Inquisitor. I just...wished to know.’ Hanna had gotten that same request many time since her return from the fade a fortnight ago, but had yet to share these details with anyone. Being the Inquisitor, the Herald, was lonely sometimes - she had to maintain a cool, professional shell, to keep the people who depended on her calm and hopeful. But even the Inquisitor needed a listening ear and a friendly face, and at this moment she found that in Commander Cullen.

Hanna stood to leave, and Cullen followed suit. ‘Thank you for listening,’ she said softly, before turning on her heel and striding out of his office.

-:-:-:-

The next day started very early - one of Leliana’s spies had just gotten back with word that some of Corypheus’s Red Templars had been spotted in the Arbor Wilds, a location previously untouched by war. 

‘What could he possibly want in the Arbor Wilds?’ Commander Cullen asked, staring down at the war table, where a red spike now stuck out of the map over the Wilds. 

‘If I may?’ Morrigan asked from Hanna’s left, not sounding at all like she was going to wait for permission. Hanna inclined her head graciously, nonetheless, and Morrigan continued. ‘You will recall the eluvian I showed you, Inquisitor?’ Hanna nodded - the eluvian in question was currently in an unused hall on the topmost floor of Skyhold, surrounded by furniture draped in sheets, not exactly an illustrious resting place for so priceless an artifact. ‘I believe that Corypheus is looking for elven artifacts such as that, and I believe there may be some in the Arbor Wilds. The ruins of the Temple of Mythal rest there, and it would make sense to me that there should be more ruins with artifacts contained within. Even after all these centuries, the magic should still be strong enough to aid Corypheus’s cause.’ 

Hanna studied Morrigan for a long moment. The sorceress had come back with them from the Winter Palace at the insistence of the Empress, and had been drifting around Skyhold ever since. She had given good advice before, and the things she said certainly made sense with what they knew of Corypheus. He desired power above all else, and the magic contained in the eluvian and in other elven artifacts would be exactly what he was searching for.

‘Leliana,’ Hanna finally said, turning back to her advisors. ‘Could you send out more spies to the Wilds? I can’t send a full force out until we have more solid proof that that is where Corypheus intends to make a move.’

‘Of course, Inquisitor.’ Leliana inclined her head. ‘I will attend to it straight away.’ Leliana strode out of the war room, muttering her plans under her breath.

‘Josephine, do you have any connections in or around the area? The more information we can gather, the better. I don’t wish to approach the area blindly, should Leliana’s spies produce anything.’

‘Yes, Inquisitor. I have the favor of several nobles in the surrounding areas, though no one has set foot within the heart of Arbor Wilds themselves in centuries. At least none that have returned.’

‘Contact them as quickly as you can, please. With their information and whatever Leliana can bring out, we will be as prepared as possible for an assault, should it be necessary.’ Josephine nodded and followed Leliana out, her quill already scribbling furiously.

Hanna turned to Commander Cullen, the only person left in the war room with her, as Morrigan had slipped out when Leliana left. 

‘Please begin preparing your men. They need to be ready at a moment’s notice, and I’m afraid this is going to be a fight like they’ve never seen before.’

‘My men will be ready,’ Cullen assured her. ‘They’ve been trained well, and they know what this is leading up to.’ His expression softened, and his voice was kind when he said, ‘You have a good army, Inquisitor. They will fight well for you, have no fear.’ He made as if to reach out to her, but thought better of it and lowered his hand again. On an impulse, Hanna reached out her own hand and rested it on his arm. Cullen’s eyes locked on her fingers resting on his forearm.

‘Thank you, Commander,’ she said, a bit surprised at her own boldness. ‘Your help has been invaluable. I...I’ve come to rely on you greatly these last few months.’

‘Anything I can do to assist you, I will,’ he vowed, his voice low, and his eyes drifted up from her hand to lock on her eyes. After a moment, he smirked slightly, the scar at the corner of his mouth stretching, and she found her eyes catching on the movement, fascinated. ‘Good day, Inquisitor,’ he said softly, stepping back and bowing at the waist before striding from the room without a backwards glance. Hanna stared after him for a moment before shaking her head and following in his footsteps. Whatever it was she and Commander Cullen had shared just then, she had no time to dwell on it. 

Instead of thinking further on her Commander, she made her way across the Great Hall and up the spiral staircase to Dorian’s section of the library in the tower. She found him perusing the shelves, a look of intense concentration on his face. He must have heard her coming, for without turning he said ‘These shelves have a deplorable lack of mage history tomes. I would like to file a complaint with the Inquisition.’

‘I’ll let Josephine know,’ Hanna assured him with a chuckle, settling in the comfortable armchair Dorian usually occupied. ‘I’m sure it will be put on the top of her list, right after finding out what Corypheus is doing in the Arbor Wilds.’

‘The Arbor Wilds?’ he asked with some interest, turning away from the shelves to face Hanna.

‘Morrigan thinks Corypheus is after elven artifacts. Magical items that will help his dark ritual.’ Dorian made a thoughtful noise in his throat, his eyes drifting past her to stare contemplatively out the window behind her.

‘That might be the case,’ he mused. ‘The elves who inhabited the Arbor Wilds were deeply entrenched in magic. Their most important holy places were there. I believe the Temple of Mythal still stands - probably with the aid of some kind of old magic. I imagine he would wish to harness whatever of it remains.’ He turned and began pacing back and forth across the mouth of his alcove, one hand stroking his goatee thoughtfully. ‘Whatever it is he’s doing in the Wilds, we certainly don’t want him to achieve it. If it’s enough to get him to divert his attention away from the Inquisition, even momentarily, the rumored magic must be very strong.’ He glanced over at Hanna, who was watching his pacing with one eyebrow raised, and smirked slightly. ‘I should very much like to see whatever it is Corypheus is after.’

‘I’m sure you would,’ Hanna agreed with a smirk of her own. Dorian’s smile turned positively winsome, and Hanna couldn’t help but grin in return. ‘I believe that could be arranged,’ she conceded, and Dorian winked at her cheekily. ‘I think Cassandra should come, as well. And perhaps Varric?’

‘Or Sera,’ Dorian replied. 

‘Sera?’ Hanna asked in some surprise. She hadn’t realized that Dorian and Sera were close enough for him to recommend her. ‘Whatever for?’

‘I believe she would appreciate the chance to pepper Corypheus with some of her never-ending supply of arrows, after what happened in the Fade. I think she needs to blame someone, and he’s the best she’s going to get on that front.’ Hanna stared at Dorian in amazement. Sometimes he was so flippant that it was easy to forget how astute the mage actually was. 

‘Well,’ Hanna said after a moment. ‘I think I should go have a chat with our Sera, then.’

‘Good luck, my dear,’ Dorian replied, turning back to his books. ‘And you might not want to mention to her that Cassandra is going as well. You know how Sera feels about our ‘fussy-britches’.’ Hanna laughed in agreement and went to find Cassandra and Sera, deciding on her way down that she wouldn’t tell either of them of the other until it was too late for them to back out.


	2. Chapter Two

Josephine’s diplomats got back to Skyhold before Leliana’s spies did, two weeks after they had left. Only two of her contacts had seen anything, and both of their estates were on the northwestern edge of the Wilds, on the Deauvin Flats. There were farming estates there, apparently, which employed people to venture into the edges of the Arbor Wilds, where the hot, tropical climate was the perfect breeding ground for plants and foods that were unavailable elsewhere. Most of these products were shipped back to Val Royeaux and Halamshiral, for the rich and powerful to enjoy. These exports, in turn, made the owners of the farms very wealthy and influential themselves, exactly the kind of people with whom Josephine routinely dealt. The owners were only too happy to help the Inquisition, feeling it was in their best interest to side with the most powerful force in Thedas at the moment.

Hanna still had to wait for Leliana’s spies to get back before she could order her forces to move, and she found the interminable wait was setting her teeth on edge. She wanted to be out in the field, stomping out Venatori or closing Fade rifts, and she knew that her soldiers wished the same, but she and her advisors had thought it best to recall all of their available forces to Skyhold, wanting them all to be at the ready the moment they heard for sure where Corypheus would be.

This led to periods of crippling boredom. Hanna had gotten so used to constantly being active and on the move that staying in Skyhold for too long at one stretch was very near agony. She had taken to prowling around the stronghold restlessly, watching Commander Cullen and Cassandra train the soldiers, Dorian and Vivienne train the mages, and Sera and Varric kind-of train their rogues. 

Nearly a week after Josephine’s people had returned, Leliana’s still had not, and Hanna was beginning to worry. She didn’t know how long it would take them to return, or if Corypheus and his forces would still be in the Wilds by the time the Inquisition got word, but she couldn’t help but think that it shouldn’t be taking this long. To distract herself from these worrying thoughts, she found herself retreating to the Chantry garden more and more. She wasn’t particularly religious, herself, but she had to admit that the atmosphere was soothing, and the constant hum of the Chant of Light coming from the small chapel off the garden had a calming effect. 

On the evening of day five of the wait for news, she had wandered out to the Chantry garden, carrying a small box from Josephine and hoping for an escape from the tense atmosphere pervading Skyhold. She found Cullen and Dorian in the middle of a game of chess, both of them seeming to be very invested in the outcome. They both looked up when Hanna approached, however, and Cullen made as if to stand, but Hanna waved him down.

‘Oh, don’t stop on my account,’ she said with a faint smile. ‘This looks very serious.’

‘Oh, it’s _very_ serious,’ Dorian replied, sounding teasingly peeved. ‘I am in the midst of being soundly trounced by your Commander.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Cullen laughed as he deftly captured Dorian’s single remaining knight. ‘Check.’

‘Deceived,’ Dorian lamented, comically burying his face in his hands. Hanna laughed, and Dorian grinned at her from between his fingers. Commander Cullen smiled up at her as well, clearly pleased to see her acting to uncharacteristically lighthearted. Hanna watched for several more minutes as the men’s chess game wound to a close, finishing when Cullen captured Dorian’s queen and chased his king into a corner. ‘Defeat. I must admit defeat.’ Dorian let out a theatrical sigh and stood up with a grand sweeping motion, bowing mockingly towards Cullen. ‘I know when to quit, Commander.’

‘Such as when you’ve lost?’ Hanna suggested, grinning at the look of betrayal Dorian shot her way.

‘Well, I will leave you to it,’ he said loftily. ‘Maybe you won’t be so smug when he’s beaten you, as well.’

Hanna sat down in the seat Dorian had just vacated and watched while Cullen rearranged the board. She wiggled the lid off of the box she had forgotten she was holding, and popped a piece of the contents into her mouth. Cullen glanced at it questioningly.

‘Josephine gave this to me,’ Hanna said, holding the little gilt box out to Cullen and shaking it slightly. ‘Would you like to try some?’ 

‘What is it?’ Cullen asked warily, eyeing the deep brown chips in the vessel.

‘It was amongst the gifts her diplomats brought back last week. She says it’s called chocolate.’ She picked another one of the pieces out and popped it in her mouth, smiling slightly to herself when she caught Cullen’s eyes tracking the movement of her fingers, holding on her lips as she chewed slowly, savoring the rich, slightly bitter taste. ‘It’s good, try one.’ She shook the box again, and Cullen reached out to take one, bringing it up slowly to give it a tentative sniff. He looked back at Hanna, eyes skeptical, but she raised one eyebrow in encouragement and he placed the chip on his tongue, allowing it to melt. She watched gleefully as his eyes widened, clearly enjoying the dark taste.

‘Where does this come from?’ he asked, reaching into the box to take another piece, smiling a bit sheepishly when she smirked at him.

‘One of her connections owns several trees just inside the Arbor Wilds. Apparently the trees grow best in more humid climes.’

‘It’s the same color as your hair,’ Cullen said, apparently without thinking, for he flushed a deep red from his ears down into the collar of his armor. ‘I mean...I just meant...I….’ he stammered, trying to recover. ‘Maker’s breath.’ Hanna grinned, ducking her head so he wouldn’t see her reaction, only looking up again once they both had composed their expressions. Still, she couldn’t help the little smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

‘That’s very flattering, Commander,’ she said finally. ‘And I’ve certainly heard worse - my eldest brother used to tell me my hair is shit-brown.’ This startled a loud laugh out of him, quick and spontaneous, and she felt a strange swooping sensation in her gut, a not entirely unpleasant feeling.

‘That certainly sounds like something an older brother would say,’ he chuckled. ‘You’ve never mentioned him before, are you close?’ Hanna’s smile faded ever so slightly. She bent her head to examine the box of chocolate in her hands, avoiding his direct gaze.

‘I haven’t spoken to any of my siblings since I joined the Circle,’ she admitted. ‘I think my parents may have had something to do with that, though Jonathan and I were never that close, really.’ She glanced up to see him studying her intently, and something in his eyes made her want to continue. She hadn’t spoken of any of her family in years, and missing them - normally a dull ache in the back of her mind - pushed up to tighten her chest. ‘I was closest to my second older brother, Benjamin. Benji and I stuck together mostly out of self-preservation, really - Jonathan was the favorite because he was the eldest, and male. He would inherit everything, carry on the family name, and all that. Jacquelin was the youngest, so she was Mother’s little jewel. And Benji and I were left in the middle. I had hoped….’ She faltered then, eyes falling again. ‘I had hoped that he, out of all of them, would have written to me once I was sent to the Circle. But Mother and Father probably prevented it. They sent me away as soon as they heard from my governess that I was having the dreams.’ She sighed. ‘But this is all in the past.’ She smiled up at Cullen, her hurt already locked away behind her professional Inquisitor facade. ‘I was sent to the Circle Tower, in Ferelden, when I was eleven, so I...I barely remember life outside of it.’ This wasn’t strictly true, but Cullen, thankfully, didn’t press the issue.

‘Are you from Ferelden, then?’ he asked instead. The chess board sat abandoned between the two of them, neither of them making a move to start a game. ‘I thought that House Trevelyan was from Ostwick. Shouldn’t you have been sent to the Circle there?’

‘Oh, it is,’ she agreed. ‘But Mother and Father wanted me as far from Ostwick as possible. There was always the chance that I would be seen by someone they knew, if I remained too close to the family seat. And I believe that wanted me in a more...strictly controlled environment. The Circles in the north are notoriously lax.’

‘Ah,’ Cullen said delicately, eyes dropping to the table in front of him. After a moment’s silence, he picked up the box of chocolate Hanna had set between them and offered it to her. She accepted a piece with a shaky laugh.

‘Thank you, Commander.’ She didn’t mean for the chocolate, and he knew.

‘Please, call me Cullen,’ he responded quietly. ‘At least when we’re alone. I mean….’ he trailed off a bit sheepishly, unable to meet her eye again suddenly. ‘I meant, as least when we are not conducting official business.’

‘Of course. Cullen.’ His name on her lips seemed to have some kind of electrifying effect on him, but before either of them could do anything further, a messenger approached the gazebo, clearly in a hurry.

‘Herald,’ she said sharply, snapping to attention. ‘Commander. Sister Leliana requests you both join her and Lady Josephine in the war room.’

‘Thank you,’ Hanna replied, she and Cullen standing as one. Hanna grabbed her little box full of chocolate pieces, then the two of them strode through the garden purposefully. They knew that such an urgent summons could only mean one thing - Leliana’s spies had tracked down Corypheus’s forces. Hanna felt a rush of morbid excitement surge through her limbs, energy crackling between her fingers. She itched to hold a staff in her hands once more, to feel the energy and power coursing through the magical weapon as she fought to protect her people and her world. Cullen held the door for her when they reached the war room, and she nodded graciously, taking her place across the table from Josephine and Leliana. Cullen usually joined them, but he stayed on her side of the table this time, and Hanna imagined she could feel the warmth of his presence.

‘You have news,’ Hanna said to Leliana briskly, pushing thoughts of her Commander from her mind.

‘My scouts arrived back not an hour ago, Inquisitor. They tell me that Corypheus has forces located throughout the Arbor Wilds, camps of both Red Templar and Venatori. They say we will need all of our forces to defeat them. They saw nothing of Corypheus himself, but an army that size could only mean that he is there.’

‘Cul-Commander,’ Hanna turned to Commander Cullen, nearly forgetting herself for a moment. ‘Ready your troops. We leave at dawn tomorrow morning. Leliana, order your scouts to rest well tonight, we will need them at first light, as well.’ Both advisors nodded sharply and exited the war room. Hanna didn’t see the lingering look Cullen cast her way as he left. ‘Josephine, it will take us over a week to get to the Arbor Wilds with a full force. Send your fastest messengers ahead of us to alert your contacts along our route. Warn them of our coming, and encourage them to add their forces to our own if they’re able. We have sufficient numbers, but there is no harm in being prepared.’

‘Yes, Inquisitor,’ Josephine agreed, turning to the man who stood discreetly by the window behind her. ‘Tamron, gather two of your fastest horses and you and Ashiwen ride ahead of us as the Inquisitor has said.’

‘Yes, my lady.’ The elf snapped a smart salute and strode out of the war room to find his sister - the two Dalish elves were the best riders amongst Josephine’s messengers, and Hanna had faith that they would efficiently get word of the Inquisition to their allies.

‘Get some rest, Inquisitor,’ Josephine said kindly once Tamron had left. ‘You’ll need it.’

‘Thank you, Josephine.’ Hanna’s lips quirked up in a smile; Josephine was very businesslike, but that couldn’t hide the kind, caring person she was at her very core. ‘I’m going to go take one more bath.’ Josephine laughed, tinkling and musical, and the sound followed Hanna out of the war room.


	3. Chapter Three

They rode out shortly after dawn the next morning. She and her party - she had nearly had to choose a new one when Sera had seen she would be traveling with Cassandra - led the way, as well as Commander Cullen and Leliana, to command their respective troops. Josephine had stayed behind to run Skyhold in Hanna’s absence, and although she hadn’t said anything, Hanna could tell that she hadn’t been happy about it. Hanna couldn’t imagine what pain it must be to stay behind while all of your friends rode out to war. 

Hanna rode at the very head of the force, her shining Inquisitor’s armor a beacon to her troops. This armor was just for show - during actual combat she preferred to be dressed in her battlemage mail, which was lighter and easier to move in - to give her followers a bright light to follow. Commander Cullen rode at her left, fur pauldrons rising majestically around his neck, armor gleaming almost as brightly as Hanna’s own. He looked, if she allowed herself to admit it, very handsome. He looked confident, like this was where he belonged: in a full suit of armor at the head of a vast army. Hanna looked away before he could catch her staring, but he must have caught the movement, for he turned to look at her.

‘It’s going to be all right,’ he assured her. From anyone else the words would have sounded empty, but Cullen was so sincere and earnest that it didn’t feel like a false platitude. ‘Our troops are well prepared, and they know what they will be facing. Sera and Varric have our rogues so well trained that they might just wipe out Corypheus’s forces before we even get to the fighting.’ Hanna smiled.

‘I have full faith in all of our forces,’ she assured him, turning to look back over her shoulder at the hundreds of men and women behind her. ‘I know you and Cassandra have trained them thoroughly, and Sera has assured me in her own way that the rogues we have are the best.’ What Sera had actually said was ‘My boys’ll show old Coryphinus where ‘e can stick ‘is demon army’, and Hanna had taken that as a good sign.

‘And they have faith in you, Inquisitor.’ He pulled his horse up closer to hers. ‘You have not led us astray,’ he said in a low voice. He looked as if he wanted to reach out to her, but they were at the head of the column, in full view of their friends and their men, and it would be improper. Hanna knew this, but still she ached for some kind of physical affection, some concrete proof that she wasn’t alone. ‘I...I have full faith in you.’ Their eyes met briefly before they both looked away quickly.

‘Thank you...Cullen.’ 

-:-:-:-

The march to the Arbor Wilds took eight days. Over those eight days, Hanna thought through and analyzed their plan of attack so many times she began to dream of it: while Cullen’s and Leliana’s forces kept Corypheus’s Red Templars, demons, and Venatori at bay, Hanna and her party (Dorian, as promised, Cassandra, and Sera, plus Morrigan) would run straight through to the ruins of the elven Temple at the heart of the Wilds. 

On the eighth day of the march they halted at the edge of the Wilds and set up camp for the healers and horses they would leave behind. Cullen began dispatching small groups of soldiers as Hanna readied her party to follow them into the humid jungle. 

‘Inquisitor, might I have a word?’ Cullen appeared at Hanna’s side and rested a hand on her elbow.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Hanna assured Cassandra, who was looking anxiously into the jungle. ‘We’ll be going shortly.’ Cullen led her a little bit away from her party, under the relative privacy of an open-sided medical tent.

‘I just...would just…Maker’s breath.’ Cullen rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes, clearly unsure how to say what he wished to say. ‘Please be careful,’ he finally said, opening his eyes to meet hers earnestly. ‘Just, please...come back safely.’ Hanna stared at him. She had gotten the same sentiment from Josephine as she had left Skyhold, but this was different. This felt entirely more intimate. ‘Hanna….’ He trailed off again and reached up to touch her cheek lightly. The contact surprised her and before she could think of how to react, Cullen was gone and Hanna heard Cassandra calling for her.

‘Yes, Cassandra. Let’s go.’

-:-:-:-

Ten days later they were back at Skyhold, bone-tired and frustrated. They had suffered relatively few losses, thank the Maker - 23 dead, 40 seriously wounded out of 450 soldiers and 80 rogues - but Hanna and her party hadn’t exactly had the outcome they had wanted.

‘Now that I possess the power of the Well of Sorrows,’ Morrigan was saying at the war table the afternoon they returned, ‘we should be better prepared to fight Corypheus.’

‘Are you sure?’ Leliana asked, her tone acerbic and one eyebrow raised. She had a gash on one cheek, and the sleeve of the coat she still wore was torn to shreds. ‘We went to the Wilds on your advice, and it didn’t exactly turn out as you told us it would.’

‘But if we hadn’t gone, Corypheus would now possess the power that we hold,’ Hanna countered wearily. ‘The outcome was not ideal, but there’s no use getting at each other’s throats over it. As Morrigan has pointed out, this does give us somewhat of an edge over Corypheus.’ Hanna rubbed a hand over her face. She was so very tired, and she was in desperate need of a bath. She had various shallow cuts on her body from falling down a set of stone stairs during a fight with a Venatori, and her left arm was in a sling, thanks to a wrenched shoulder. She knew she would be fine by morning, that a hot bath would do just the trick, but she also knew that there was business to attend to first. ‘Leliana, have your spies get a nice hot meal and a good night’s rest, and send them out in the morning to try and find out Corypheus’s next move. Send out your ravens, as well. We need all the communication we can get. We need to track down Corypheus as soon as possible. This needs to end.’ 

Hanna dismissed her advisors and turned to leave, carefully trying to avoid Cullen’s searching gaze. She hadn’t spoken to him directly since their encounter in the Wilds - she wasn’t sure what she would say to him when the time inevitably came that she could avoid him no longer. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything but friendship towards anyone in such a long time. The Circle didn’t exactly encourage intimate relationships, and her duties as Inquisitor kept her too busy to even contemplate a relationship. But she had to admit that while she was fighting her way through the jungle and through the ruins, Cullen’s words kept playing themselves over and over. ‘Just please...come back safely.’ His voice was a tattoo on her brain, the longing in his gaze imprinted in her mind whenever she closed eyes. There was something about this stubborn former Templar that she just couldn’t stop thinking about.

‘Please, Inquisitor, may we speak?’ Cullen asked as they reached the war room door at the same time. He put a hand on the door lightly, blocking her exit gently enough that she could still leave easily if she wished. 

Hanna hesitated, staring at his hand on the door rather than at his face. It didn’t make her thoughts any clearer, but it was slightly easier to form sentences when she couldn’t see how intently he was looking at her.

‘I need to bathe first,’ she finally replied. ‘And change out of these dirty clothes. I...I’ll meet you in your office in an hour?’ It would likely only take her 30 minutes at most to clean and change, but she needed the rest of that time to decide what she would say to him. When she finally dared a glance up at his face, his expression was open and hopeful.

‘Of course. I’ll wait for you.’ His voice held so much feeling that Hanna felt a shiver run down her spine. He inclined his head slightly and left the war room, leaving Hanna to stare after him. She followed him out and walked in a daze down the corridor, through Josephine’s office, and out into the Great Hall. She spotted one of the servants stoking one of the huge fireplaces in the Hall and beckoned him over when he caught her eye.

‘Could you find Dorian and ask him to come up to my chambers in twenty minutes, please?’ Dorian had become one of her closest companions over the last several months, and his advice had always been invaluable. Perhaps he could help her through this, as well. The servant nodded and bowed, and Hanna turned swiftly and left the hall, carefully avoiding anyone’s gaze lest they try to stop her to talk. Being the Inquisitor meant she often couldn’t go anywhere within Skyhold without someone needing to speak with her, and she simply wasn’t in the mood for any questions or requests.

The bath in her own private stone basin felt absolutely wonderful, and she emerged feeling better than she had in over two weeks. The magically heated water had soothed her aching shoulder, and her myriad wounds didn’t look nearly as bad once she was clean. She dressed in her favorite soft breeches and tunic, and slipped her feet into her soft leather shoes. Once dressed, she settled on the low, plush stool in front of her dressing table and examined herself in the mirror.

Despite a few minor cuts on her face, she thought that she looked all right. Her eyes looked tired, the dark circles under them perhaps more pronounced than she would have liked, but she had to admit that she didn’t look too terrible for being on the move for half a month. Her duties didn’t often leave her any time for vanity, but now that she had become aware that Cullen might have certain feelings for her, she couldn’t help but take a closer look at herself. Her eyes were dark brown, nearly the same color as her hair - she had inherited both from her mother - and nicely proportioned. There was a slight crease between her eyes which deepened when she frowned. Her nose was aristocratic, straight if maybe slightly too large for her face. Her lips were nicely shaped, not too thin, but altogether too prone to frowning, something that her mother and governess had pointed out even when she was little. All together, her face wasn’t entirely displeasing, and she tried not to dwell too much on the bits that made her unhappy.

She was broken out of this self examination by a firm knock on the door, and Dorian entered when bid.

‘You asked to see me?’ Dorian made himself comfortable on Hanna’s deep, comfortable sofa.

‘Yes. I...I need your advice, please?’ This made Dorian sit up straighter and lean forward, eyes suddenly bright and interested.

‘Really? The great Inquisitor herself coming to me, a humble mage-’

‘Oh stop it,’ she grumbled, and he grinned. ‘I’m being serious.’

‘Right. Serious.’ He straightened up and affected a serious expression, marred by the mischievous twinkle in his eye.

‘I think that maybe...I mean….’ she trailed off with a frustrated groan.

‘Just spit it out, dear,’ Dorian advised unhelpfully.

Hanna shot him a look, but did as obliged. ‘I think Cullen might have feelings for me. In fact, I’m almost certain of it.’ Whatever it was that Dorian had been expecting, it clearly wasn’t that. He stared at her a moment then burst out laughing, falling back against the couch with the force of his mirth. ‘I see nothing funny about this,’ she grumbled indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

‘Oh, I’m sorry my dear,’ he replied after a moment, wiping at his eyes. ‘It’s just...of  _ course _ our stubborn Commander has feelings for you.’

She had expected that. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I suppose it should be no surprise that you haven’t noticed.’ Dorian was still chuckling. ‘Both of you are quite dense. Quite frankly, I’m surprised Commander Cullen himself was aware enough to make  _ you _ aware.’

‘Well.’ Hanna didn’t know how to respond to that. If Dorian knew, that meant Iron Bull and Varric knew, and if Varric knew, that probably meant that everyone in their circle knew. Hanna wasn’t sure how to feel about this bit of news.

‘Are you going to do anything about it?’

Hanna was quiet for a long moment. ‘Yes,’ she finally decided. ‘I told him I would talk with him in his office. I should...I should be going.’

‘Yes, you should.’ Dorian winked broadly at her.

‘Stop that,’ she grumbled, but a smile played at the corner of her lips anyways as she walked past him to get to her stairs. She was earlier than she told Cullen she would be, but once her decision was made, she couldn’t wait any longer. And besides, in the current state of the war, she could be needed any second. It was best to get something like this done while she had the chance.


	4. Chapter Four

The walk across the Great Hall, through Solas’s solar, and across the stone bridge connecting to Cullen’s office on the battlement seemed to take an age. Hanna fidgeted the whole time, twisting her fingers together in a nervous habit she’d had since she was a child. She stood before his solid oak door for a good minute before knocking. He didn’t answer right away, and she was almost afraid he either hadn’t heard her or had been called away from his office. She was about to knock again when she heard footsteps on the other side of the door, and Cullen pulled it open. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them saying anything, before Cullen stepped back slightly, opening the door further.

‘Please, come in.’ She had been in his office many times before - Leliana had often jested that Cullen’s desk was the heart of the Inquisition - but this time was different. This time had more purpose. He closed the heavy door behind her and she turned to face him, unsure what the say. 

‘Would you...care to go for a walk?’ Hanna asked after a few beats silence. His eyebrows quirked up, but he nodded before leading her to the door on the other wall, by his bookshelves. They wandered along the stone walkway, neither of them sure what to say.

‘It’s a beautiful day,’ Cullen finally ventured, pulling Hanna out of her thoughts.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘It’s….’ Cullen trailed off. ‘Maker’s breath. I had this all planned, you know. What I wanted to say to you, I mean.’ He rubbed his neck, a nervous habit she had noted on a number of occasions that was strangely endearing. They stopped next to the wall, and Hanna looked out over the valley, but the stunning view of snowy peaks was completely lost on her. Cullen stood very close to her, but not quite touching, the distance between them agonizing. ‘You’re the Inquisitor,’ he finally said, turning to face her. ‘We’re at war. And you...I never thought to let myself believe it. I didn’t think it possible.’

Hanna turned to fully face him, her back to the ramparts. ‘And yet, I’m still here,’ she responded boldly. Cullen’s gaze grew hopeful, heady.

‘So you are,’ he murmured. He took a step closer, the gap between them closing. He reached out to rest a hand tentatively on her waist, and Hanna did nothing to stop it. ‘It seems...it seems almost too much to ask. But I want to ask. I want-’ Cullen broke off at the unmistakable creak of his office door.

‘Commander!’ A messenger was striding towards them from Cullen’s office, looking down at a sheaf of parchments. ‘You wanted a copy of Sister Leliana’s report.’

‘What?’ Cullen demanded sharply, wheeling on the poor, ill-timed messenger. The man looked up from the report then, and caught sight first of Cullen’s stormy look, then Hanna standing behind him, her face in her hands.

‘On your desk. I’ll leave this on your desk,’ the man decided, and wheeled around, slamming Cullen’s door behind him.

‘Well,’ Hanna said once he was gone. She felt a surge of disappointment well up - surely, the moment was gone. ‘If you need to-’ But before she could continue, Cullen was there again, his hands circling her waist, his lips warm and insistent on hers. ‘Oh!’ she gasped into mouth, surprise rendering her frozen. This lasted a mere moment, however, before she sank into the kiss, her body leaning into his, hands coming up to circle his neck, pulling him as close to her as she possibly could. The kiss was almost hungry, days and weeks and months of frustration and longing pouring into it from both sides. Cullen gripped her waist with one strong arm, the other hand coming up to cup her face ever so gently. Hanna buried her fingers in his curly blonde hair, so silky soft and inviting. 

Cullen pulled away first, leaving both of them gasping for breath.

‘I’m sorry,’ he apologized huskily, his hand leaving her cheek to rub the back of his neck. He kept his other arm around her waist, however, and Hanna was grateful - she wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t collapse without his support. ‘That was….’

‘Don’t be sorry,’ Hanna breathed. ‘That was perfect.’

‘Oh. Well. Good.’ He smirked, his hand coming back down to stroke her cheek. ‘You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that.’

‘I can guess.’ She reached up on her tiptoes to press another kiss to his lips. Now that she knew what he tasted like, she found herself wanting more. ‘The Commander and the Inquisitor,’ she teased, twisting his hair around her fingers. ‘What will the people say?’

‘You know, I really don’t care.’

-:-:-:-

It seemed, however, that no one was saying anything about them at all. Dorian shot her knowing looks every once in a while over the next week, but the rumor mill - usually churning nonstop in such close quarters - was surprisingly quiet. Cullen and Hanna decided that they both preferred it this way. There were other things to worry about, more important things, than what the Inquisition leaders did in their nearly nonexistent spare time.

The two of them snuck spare moments whenever they could, stealing kisses in Cullen’s office or on the battlements, even once or twice in the war room when they arrived before or left after Josephine and Leliana. Her new relationship - whatever it may be - with Cullen made the wait for news a little less agonizing. And, surprisingly, it was enough. Just to know that Cullen felt this way for her, and to feel something close to what a normal woman would be free to feel was enough for Hanna, at least for the moment.

After the second week with no news from Leliana’s spies, Hanna and her advisors decided it was safe and reasonable for them to go on missions again. There were still Fade rifts that needed closing, and areas that needed stabilising, and even with all of her advisors, friends, and allies, Hanna was the only person who could do most of it. So she and her party ventured out as if it were business as usual, despite the fact that they were always on guard to drop everything and rush out if they received any word on Corypheus. It was tense, constantly being on alert to two situations at once, but Hanna and her group did their best.

Hanna also couldn’t shake thoughts of her Commander from her mind. She didn’t let her personal feelings interfere with her duties, of course, but he was constantly there. His smirk was there whenever she closed her eyes, she could feel his breath against her cheek when he pulled her close to him every time a breeze tickled her face, and his strong arms wrapped around her whenever she pulled her cloak around her shoulders. There seemed to be an extra risk to what she was doing now that there was another so personally tied to her well-being - with every risk she took she couldn’t help but think how it would affect Cullen, how he would go about his life if she never made it back. There were thousands of people she would willing give her life for in pursuit of freedom against the encroaching darkness, but she found it a different feeling entirely know that she wanted to live for Cullen, to make it back to Skyhold and see his smile, see the way the worry lines on his forehead softened when he looked at her. There was a certain wonder to it, and a certain pressure, knowing that another person’s happiness was attached to your own life.

Hanna found Cullen in the garden chapel upon her return from a particularly difficult mission. She and her party had closed three rifts in the Hinterlands, and at the last one Hanna had taken a claw in the back from a Greater Terror Demon. Dorian had healed it effectively before it did any lasting damage, but it still caused her a measure of pain, and word had gotten around Skyhold before she could do anything to prevent it. Cullen had undoubtedly heard of it, so Hanna had set out as soon as she had been examined by a Sister. He was kneeling before the altar, reciting the Canticle of Trials in a clear, carrying voice.

‘When I have lost all else, when my eyes fail me, and the taste of blood fills my mouth, then in the pounding of my heart, I hear the glory of creation. You have grieved as I have. You, who made worlds out of nothing. We are alike in sorrow, sculptor and clay, comforting each other in our art.’ His voice was mesmerizing, going steadily through the Canticle he had probably memorized as a devout Templar. She watched the curve of his back as he knelt at the altar, watched his spun-gold hair glimmer in the flickering candlelight. Listening to his recitation and watching how it clearly calmed him was enough to bring a deep sense of ease like a warm, heavy blanket over her entire body.

‘A prayer for you?’ Hanna asked softly, sitting down in a pew behind her to try and ease her aching back.

‘For those we have lost,’ he replied without turning around. Then, quieter, ‘And those I am afraid to lose.’

‘You’re afraid?’ She had somehow, even with her own fears and doubts, never considered Cullen one to have any, let alone willingly express them.

‘Of course I’m afraid. Corypheus is a larger threat now than he has ever been before, and now we don’t even know where he is. And Maker help me, I have to send you to him.’ Cullen stood then, and turned to face her, towering over her where she sat so that she had to crane her neck to meet his intense gaze. He offered her his hand, and she allowed him to pull her to her feet and hug her close to him. He buried his face in her hair, and she nestled hers in the crook of his neck. ‘I cannot lose you,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘I don’t know what I would do if...if you didn’t return to me.’ He shifted again to hold her out at arm’s length, then reached a hand into the pouch hanging at his waist to receive something which he held clenched tight in his fist. He opened his hand to show her what he held - an old, tarnished coin, possibly Ferelden. ‘My brother gave me this before I left to join the Templars,’ he said softly, turning the coin over in his hands. ‘He told me it would bring me luck. I’ve kept it ever since.’ He examined it for a few more seconds before taking one of her hands in his free one and tipping the coin into it. ‘Please,’ he said, closing her fingers around it. ‘It may be a silly, superstitious thing, but will you take it?’

‘I’ll take all the luck I can get,’ Hanna replied with a light smile, unable to properly convey just how touched she was by the gesture. She held the coin tightly and reached on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

‘Walk with me?’ Cullen asked, stepping back and taking her empty hand in his. Hanna nodded, and he led her out of the chapel, through the mostly empty Chantry garden. There were a few Skyhold residents milling around, and they all stopped to stare as their Herald and Commander walked past them, hand in hand, but Cullen and Hanna paid them no heed - there were more important things on their minds than what people would think of their relationship. Cullen walked them back through the Great Hall, through the corridor that led to Hanna’s private chambers, only stopping once they had reached Hanna’s rooms. ‘I can’t help but think of what will happen after all of this is over,’ he mused once they were inside and up the stairs. ‘Not only what will happen to the Inquisition, but what will happen...to us.’ He let go of her hand and wandered over to the balcony that overlooked the valley and mountains surrounding Skyhold. Hanna followed him, leaning against the doorframe to watch him in his musing. ‘I know that I won’t want to move on,’ he confessed. ‘I don’t want to move on from you.’ He turned back around to look at her. ‘But...I don’t know what you...that is, if you….’ He trailed off, looking tormented.

‘Do you even have to ask?’ She crossed the balcony to wrap her arms around his neck. ‘I don’t think I could move on from you if I tried.’ She kissed him firmly, trying to convey all of her feelings for him, all of the things that she was maybe not the best at expressing verbally. He responded in kind, his mouth firm, insistent, and hungry against hers. He began walking her backwards into the room, back towards her comfortably elegant, Orlesian-style bed. 

‘Just please,’ he murmured, moving his mouth from hers to graze his teeth lightly along her jawline, making her moan. ‘Please, promise you’ll come back to me.’

‘I promise,’ she breathed. ‘Besides,’ she smiled, as the backs of her knees hit the edge of her bed, ‘I have luck on my side.’


	5. Chapter Five

Hanna was awoken rather abruptly the next morning when Cullen tugged the blankets off of her, exposing her bare skin to the cold morning air. She shivered and tried to grab the blankets back, but Cullen was rolling side to side, head thrashing with the movement. He was clearly distressed, muttering over and over again ‘No, no!’ Hanna rested her hand on his bare arm and shook him gently, trying to wake him without startling him. 

‘NO!’ he shouted, and woke with a start, sitting up so abruptly that Hanna recoiled automatically. He looked around wildly for a moment, the edges of his nightmare clearly still clinging to his waking mind. His eyes finally settled on Hanna’s face and he stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry’, he sighed, reaching up to run a hand over his face. ‘I didn’t mean to worry you.’

‘You can let me worry a little, you know.’ She reached up to cup his left cheek gently. He leaned into her touch, eyes still closed, until his breathing evened. ‘You’re not alone anymore, Cullen,’ she told him, running her thumb gently over the dark circle under his eye. ‘I know you worry about me, please, let me return the favor.’ He opened his eyes to meet hers and smiled softly.

‘As you wish, Inquisitor,’ he whispered, then leaned in to press a kiss to her temple then one to her lips. ‘I love you, you know.’ Hanna pulled back slightly to meet his unguarded, earnest gaze. She smiled.

‘I love you, too.’ She shifted down on the bed until she was nestled snugly against Cullen’s side, her head resting on his collarbone, hand resting on his chest, one leg draped comfortably over his. He kissed the top of her head, and they lay there for several minutes, merely enjoying each other’s silent company. ‘Are the nightmares usually that bad?’ she asked after a while, fingers playing idly over his chest.

‘Not always,’ he replied, his voice rumbling through his chest in a pleasant hum against her ear. ‘Some nights I can sleep through just fine, but sometimes the withdrawal is too much for me. They...they seem to be better when I’ve been with you, though.’ 

‘I’m glad to help,’ Hanna whispered, turning her head to press a kiss against his clavicle. His breath hitched, and she smiled at the reaction she elicited. He reached up to put a hand under her chin, tilting her head up to capture her lips in a kiss. She shifted her leg, moving so that she was straddling his waist, hands on either side of his face. He groaned against her mouth, hips bucking against hers-

They were interrupted by a knock at the door, and Hanna nearly growled in frustration.

‘You should get that,’ Cullen said, his voice full of as much resentment as Hanna was feeling.

‘I’m sure they can wait,’ Hanna replied petulantly, even as another knock sounded through her chambers. Hanna rolled off Cullen’s lap with a groan and grabbed the dressing gown draped over her sofa, tying it around her naked body before answering the door. ‘Yes?’ she said impatiently, unfairly taking her annoyance out on the messenger standing on the other side.

‘Inquisitor.’ The Messenger snapped to attention. ‘Sister Leliana would like to see you in the war room at once. Corypheus has been sighted.’ Hanna felt a surge of fear and excitement as she thanked the messenger, closing the door as he left. She went back up her stairs to find Cullen already dressing, clearly having heard what the messenger said. They dressed in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Cullen stopped her when they reached the door, however, and pulled her close, hugging her tightly to him. He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead, holding her for several moments, then released her, and they both went down to the war room to receive Leliana’s report.

-:-:-:-

It was decided that Hanna would take a small party to fight Corypheus, rather than a whole army. He had been seen at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, less than half a day’s ride away by horseback for four people, where Hanna’s involvement in the Inquisition had begun. Hanna decided that Solas, Dorian, and Cassandra were her best choice, and alerted the three of them to be ready within the hour; it was time to end this. 

They met at the large gate leading to the great stone bridge that connected Skyhold to the rest of the valley. There was a large group present at the gate to send them off, Hanna’s advisors standing at the front to see them leave.

‘Good luck, Inquisitor,’ Josephine said, embracing Hanna tightly for a brief moment. Leliana repeated the sentiment, her embrace a tad more perfunctory and brief. Hanna saved Cullen for last.

‘We will follow you should we not receive word in three days. Maker willing, you will be back before then.’ His tone was all business, but Hanna could detect a deep undercurrent of emotion hidden just under the surface.

‘I have luck on my side,’ she said softly, repeating her words from the night before. She slipped a hand into the inside pocket of her reinforced jacket, touching the coin held there securely. Cullen chuckled shakily, then took her hand, kissing the knuckles lightly. He released her abruptly and stepped back, snapping a quick bow before turning and striding away, clearly unwilling or unable to see her leave on what was possibly a suicide mission. Hanna stared after him a moment before rejoining her party, swinging herself up onto her Asaarash horse, a gift from the Iron Bull’s Qunari connections. They rode out the gate, and when Hannah glanced over her shoulder, up at Cullen’s tower office, she could see him standing on the battlement, watching her leave.

-:-:-:-

Corypheus was defeated. Nothing remained of him but a scorch mark on the ground and a cracked Orb of Destruction, broken beyond what even magic could repair. Hanna sat slumped against a ruined pillar, watching Solas turn the broken piece over in his hands, his face blank but his posture tense.

‘I am sorry,’ Hanna said as Solas stood up, letting the useless pieces fall to the ground at his feet. ‘I know how much you wished to preserve the Orb.’

‘Inquisitor!’ Hanna heard Cassandra’s voice calling to her. ‘Are you alive?’ Hanna had sent her party to meet with Cullen and his forces after their fight with the lyrium dragon - she had known that she had to face Corypheus alone, in the end. Hanna heaved herself up and slowly made her way to the archway over the stairs leading down to the forest. Cassandra stood there, along with Dorian, and the two of them smiled broadly in relief.

‘Let’s go home, shall we?’ Hanna was only too obliged to go with Dorian’s suggestion, and she turned around to tell Solas they were leaving, but the elf was no longer there. She indicated to Cassandra and Dorian that she would be down in a moment, then ventured - with some difficulty thanks to exhaustion and several injuries - back into the ruins to try and locate him. He was nowhere to be found, however, and as Hanna walked back to finally join Cassandra and Dorian so they could leave, she discovered that the pieces of the Orb of Destruction were no longer there, either. She would have to remember to speak with Leliana about him when they returned to Skyhold - after a nice long rest, of course.

All Hanna could think about on the ten hour journey back to Skyhold - back  _ home _ \- was how it was finally, finally over. She had spent the last year devoting her life to the service of the Inquisition with the goal of defeating Corypheus, and now Corypheus was no more. She found herself with a strange sense of something disturbingly close to loss. She didn’t know what she would do if her life was no longer taken up by the hunt for the ancient darkspawn. Dorian seemed to sense her inner turmoil, for he brought his horse up beside hers and nudged her leg with his foot.

‘Well done, Inquisitor,’ he said jovially. ‘You’ve successfully saved the world.’

‘Oh, don’t,’ she responded, a smile tugging at her mouth despite herself. ‘We all did this together, it wasn’t me alone.’

‘Very true, I was definitely a big part of this.’ He grinned cheekily. ‘But who will they write the songs and stories about?’ Hanna made a face at him, then burst out laughing, suddenly feeling freer than she had in many months. She met Dorian’s eye, then twisted in her saddle to look back at Cassandra, the three of them sharing a moment of wordless communication. Cassandra smiled and nodded, and the three of them spurred their horses into a gallop. Hanna reached up to push her cowl off of her head, feeling the wind twist through her choppy hair.  _ Maybe now I can grow my hair out _ , she thought giddily.  _ I’ll ask Josephine to teach me how to style it. _ She laughed out loud at the thought. She didn’t know what she would do without the constant threat hanging over her head, but she knew that she was free to do it.

-:-:-:-

The entirety of the Inquisition was waiting for them when they got back to Skyhold. Hanna and her party dismounted and turned their horses over to the stable hands right inside the gates, and made their way through the jubilant crowd, surrounded on all sides by cheering, weeping, applauding people. Hanna could see her advisors standing at the landing on the steps leading up to the Great Hall, and her eyes focused on Cullen’s armor shining in the late afternoon light like a beacon guiding her home. She walked through the crowd with as measured a pace as she could muster, having to contain herself from sprinting past them and up the stairs to throw herself into Cullen’s arms. It was slow going through the throngs of people desperate to show their gratitude to the heroes of the day, each wanting to touch some part of their Herald of Andraste. Hanna found herself touched and prodded, her hair stroked and her shoulders patted so many time it began to feel like one continuous touch. She shook as many hands as she was able, turning her gaze often to look up at Cullen, his face becoming clearer the closer they got. He was out of sight for a moment as she made her way up the steps and under the arch beneath the main stairs, but when she rounded the corner she could clearly see the pride shining in his expression, and she couldn’t contain the grin that spread across her own face. 

Unable to contain herself any longer, she sprinted up the flight of stairs and flung herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth to his triumphantly, heedless of the audience sharing in this moment. Their kiss was insistent, but without the urgency of any they previously shared, feeling more of a celebration than any of the others had been able to. One of Cullen’s hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her close, while the other was buried in her hair, tugging gently. Both of Hanna’s arms were wrapped around Cullen’s neck, holding him as close to her as she could get him.

When they finally pulled away, Cullen rested his forehead against hers, taking just one more moment to themselves before turning back to face Josephine and Leliana, and the rest of the Inquisition.

‘You came back to me,’ he breathed, his eyes still so full of such relief that Hanna almost couldn’t bear it.

‘I made a promise. And I always keep my promises.’ Her smile was open, the freest smile she had mustered in a long time.

‘Just another thing I love about you.’ Cullen’s answering grin was more unguarded than she had ever seen him - he looked younger and happier, and her triumph was made all the sweeter when she knew that she and Cullen were now free to see where the future would lead them. Josephine cleared her throat, and Hanna pulled away from Cullen reluctantly. She took his hand, however, unable to tear herself away from his touch completely.

‘Come, Inquisitor,’ Josephine said with a grin. ‘Let us celebrate your victory.’

‘ _ Our _ victory,’ Hanna corrected. ‘This night belongs to all of us.’

‘Just so,’ Josephine agreed, then led the way into the Great Hall where the rest of Hanna’s friends were waiting to celebrate. Hanna felt a rush of warmth to see this group of people she had grown so close to all sitting and laughing together, happier and freer than Hanna had seen any of them. Even odd little Cole seemed to be joining in the festivities. They all stopped when Hanna and her advisors - would they still be her advisors, now that the war was over? She would have to ask about that later, as well - entered the Hall, and they all raised their ale mugs in her direction with a cheer, and Hanna was grateful for the casual yet exuberant greeting. She was sure that there would be toasts and adorations in her honor later, but this felt good, more normal than anything that was sure to come.

-:-:-:-

The celebrations went on for hours, and Hanna felt herself growing more and more tired as the night wore on. She waited until the ale had been flowing freely for a while, leaving everyone’s spirits loose and happy and oblivious, before slipping away towards the back of the Hall and the corridor leading to her chambers. The corridor was blissfully quiet as she trudged up the stairs, growing wearier with each step. Now that she was away from the festivities, she could feel exactly how tired she was, how every part of her body screamed for rest. She had just reached her bedchamber door when she heard the door behind her open and shut, and heavy footsteps follow her up the stairs. She turned to find Cullen standing just below her, his face unworried for perhaps the first time since she’d known him.

‘Do you have some time?’ he asked warmly, his tone indicating that she could refuse if she wished. But there was no one she would rather be with at this moment than him.

‘Always,’ she assured him, and beckoned him to follow her into her chamber, which he did without hesitation. She was pleased beyond belief to find a hot bath waiting for her in the tub by the door to her south-facing balcony - absolutely nothing sounded better at the moment than time alone with Cullen and a nice long soak. 

Hanna felt Cullen step up close behind her, and sighed as he began massaging the tense muscles in her shoulders. His fingers worked deep into the aching tissue for several moments before he gently turned her around and began undoing the buttons on her coat. When he was done he let it drop in a pile on the floor at their feet, and the rest of her clothing soon followed in its wake until she was standing before him as bare as the Maker made her. He bent down to press a soft kiss to her neck, then turned her around again and walked her to the tub, holding her hand as she stepped into it and sank down gratefully into the warm water. She watched silently as he shed his armor until he was standing in nothing but his soft leather breeches, then he knelt by the tub and picked up the washcloth that was draped over the side. He began gently, methodically to wash her aching body, lightly dislodging the dirt and dried blood, massaging her muscles as he went. Her body washed clean, he gently tilted her head back and washed her hair free of dirt and tangles. When she was finally fully cleansed, he assisted her out of the tub and wrapped her in the warm towel a thoughtful servant had left folded for her on her desk. Warm and clean and dry, Hanna leaned back into Cullen’s strong chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his body.

‘Feel better?’ he finally asked, breaking their long, comfortable silence.

‘Infinitely,’ she confirmed. And she was. Not just for the bath, but everything in her life suddenly seemed peaceful and calm. Her future was uncertain, but she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that wherever it took her, Cullen would be there. He lowered his head to rest his chin on her shoulder, turning slightly so he could press a kiss to her cheek. She closed her eyes, making a soft, contented humming noise in her throat. This, right here - in Cullen’s arms, safe and warm and happy - this for her was more than enough.


End file.
